A second source, from whence the Europeans are supplied with slaves on the coast of Africa, isPillage, which is of two kinds; publick or private. It is publick, when practiced by the direction of the kings, private, when practiced by individuals. I must also make a further distinction, namely, as it is practiced by the blacks and the whites. This last I call Robbery, which will be the subject of the next article.
The publickPillageis, of all others, the most plentiful source, from which the slave trade derives its continuance and support. The kings of Africa (I mean in that part of the country which I have visited) incited by the merchandize shewn them, which consists principally of strong liquors, give orders to their military to attack their own villages in the night. Saturday night is particularly fixed upon for this purpose, being esteemedthe most lucky for expeditions of this kind. However, when slaves are wanted in haste, no night is deemed so inauspicious as to prevent an attempt.
As I have been myself an eye-witness to several of these nocturnal expeditions, it will, perhaps, be better to illustrate this kind ofPillageby some examples.
The French make presents to the negro as well as the Moorish kings. It happened when I was at Goree, that an ambassador was to be sent from thence to the king of Barbesin on this errand. I obtained leave with my fellow-travellers to accompany the embassy. We accordingly set out, and arrived at Joal, a place where the king resides at particular times of the year, viz. when the trading vessels arrive there.
It is usual, on the receipt of these presents, to send back a number of slaves in return. It so happened, however, that the king of Barbesin had no slaves in his possession at that time. This circumstance it was, that affordedme an opportunity of seeing the expeditions before mentioned.
We resided, I believe, about a week at Joal. During our residence there, thePillage, of which I have been speaking, was attempted almost every night. The following is a description of the persons concerned in it, and of their various success.
There were several parties of the military, assembled at six in the evening, or about dusk. Each party consisted of about ten or twelve. A large horseman’s musket was rested on each of their saddles, in the same manner as those of the English heavy cavalry. On their shoulders were suspended a bow, and a quiver full of arrows. Thus equipped, they went to different villages belonging to the king, and returned usually about five in the morning, or a little before day-light.
In some of their attempts they returned without a single slave. In others they were more successful. At one time in particular they came back with but one captive. Thiswas a beautiful young negress, from one of the king’s own villages. She was immediately delivered, notwithstanding her tears and cries, to the French ambassador, whom we accompanied, and, by his order, was carried on board.
It was fortunate however for her, that she belonged to one of those families, which, in consequence of their birth, are exempted by the laws of the country from slavery. This occasioned a commotion; for the auction appeared to the minds of the people, to be so unjust and repugnant to the established laws, that they were nearly on the point of rebelling. The king, when he came to his senses (for he had given his orders respecting the seizure of this girl in a state of intoxication) saw in so lively a manner the consequences of this rash proceeding, that with the most abject submission, he descended to prayers and intreaties with the owner, to return the innocent and unfortunate girl. The Frenchman, though surrounded by more than two thousand negroes at the time, and though the embassy, including myselfand fellow-travellers, consisted but of five white people, was so madly obstinate, as for a long time to refuse his request; I say madly, because in all the adventures of my life, I had never so much reason to be alarmed for the preservation of it. At length, after much intreaty, the king promised him two others in exchange, whom he expected to seize on a future expedition; and thus was the unhappy girl restored to her disconsolate family.
At another time, the military, who had been sent out toPillage, returned with several captives. These consisted of men, women, and children. The men, as they were brought in, exhibited marks of great dejection. One of them, however, appeared to be quite frantick with grief. He beseeched his captors, with great fervency, that they would not tear him from his wife and children. The women, on the other hand, vented their sorrow in shrieks and lamentations. The children, in a state of palpitation, clung to their mother’s breasts. Their little eyes were so swelled with crying, that they couldcry no more. During all this time, the captors, to shew their joy on the occasion, and to drown the cries of their unfortunate fellow-subjects, were beating large drums. To this was added, all the noise that could be collected from the blowing of horns, and the human voice. Taking in the shrieks and agony of the one, and the shouts and joy of the other, with the concomitant instruments of noise, I was never before witness to such an infernal scene.
What I have said of the king of Barbesin’s conduct with respect to the mode of procuring slaves, is equally applicable to those other kings of the country, of whom I have any knowledge. King Damel, whose dominions lie between Portudal and Senegal, wanting a slave to deliver in exchange for some goods he had bargained for with a Goree trader, ordered his soldiers to seize on one of his own subjects. Finding a woman (whose husband was absent) in a hut with her children, they seized her, bound her, and tore her from her babes, who were rejected, as not being able to perform the journey down to the shore.
The king of Sallum, though he never tastes any spirituous liquors, has recourse to the same practice, as if by the common consent of the kings of Africa, these were the measures to be invariably pursued. The articles, most in demand with this king, are Spanish dollars, and Dutch gourds. Both these he causes to be melted down, and then to be worked into chains, bracelets, and other ornaments for himself and his favourites. Having fixed an extraordinary value upon these, he will at any time depopulate a village to obtain them. Such are the effects of avarice, when it has the power of gratification.
The vessels employed in the trade to Sallum, by the mulattoes of Goree, are generally sloops. With these they go up the river, and arrive in about three days. Their stay there is very uncertain. It is in general from one to four weeks, according as the king is successful or not in thosePillageswhich he attempts for the sake of procuring slaves. When the traders have completed their cargoes, they return to Goree, where they deliver them, in about eight days. Theslaves, so delivered, are shipped off, by the first opportunity, to the French colonies.
In speaking of these sloops, I cannot refrain from mentioning an instance which came under my own eye. A trading mulattoe of Goree, whose name was Martin, had obtained from the king of Sallum, by means of the publickPillagebefore described, a sloop full of captives. The greater part of them were women and children. Notwithstanding this, they had been thrown into the sloop as if they had been articles of lumber, and devoid of feeling. Obliged, moreover, from too close a stowage, to lie on the inequalities and protuberances of the bare planks, without being able to change their position, they had in the course only of eight days (which I stated to be the time of the passage from Sallum to Goree) been very materially hurt: for, when I saw them brought out of the sloop, they had several contusions on various parts of their bodies, and in others their flesh was severely cut. A poor child in particular, about two years old, had a very deep wound in his side, made in the mannerabove stated. He lay afterwards, upon being landed, with the wound contiguous to the ground, so that the sand getting into it, put him to exquisite pain. I mention this instance, only to give an idea of what are thought to be rooms of accommodation for slaves, and of that inhumanity, which naturally springs out of the prosecution of this trade.
Before I close my account of the publickPillage, I must not forget to mention, that the kings of those parts, (except the king of Sallum) never openly profess the right, which they thus unjustly usurp over the lives and liberties of their subjects. For this reason they plan their expeditions in such a manner, that they must arrive at the place they intend toPillage, in the dead of the night. It is impossible, therefore, for their subjects, in such a case, to discover who are the instruments of those acts of violence; and they may with greater reason suppose, that they were perpetrated by a roving banditti, than by the direction of their own kings.
I come now to the privatePillage. This is practiced by individuals, who, tempted by the merchandize brought by the Europeans, lie in wait for one another. For this purpose they beset the roads, and other places, so that a travelling negro can hardly ever escape them. To enumerate the many instances of this private depredation that happen, would be an endless task. I shall therefore select but one, which, on account of the circumstances that followed, may strike the reader as singular.
A Moor had seized a free negro, and, having secured him, he brought him to Senegal, and sold him to the company. A few days afterwards this moor was taken by some negroes in the same manner, and brought to be sold in his turn. The company seldom buy moors: but as they were obliged, in consequence of their privileges, to supply the colony of Cayenne with a certain number of slaves, and as several ships then in the road, in consequence of the king of Almammy’s edict, as before related, could not complete their cargoes, they made the less scrupleto buy him on this occasion. Chance so directed, that the moor, after he had been purchased, was carried on board the same ship, in which the negro lay. They no sooner met, than a quarrel took place between them, which occasioned, for some days, a great tumult in the vessel. Such rencounters frequently happen in the slave-ships, and the uproars, occasioned by them, are seldom or never quieted, till some mischief has been done.